


Here we go again

by doc_mummy



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Time Travel, redo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:01:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29752377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doc_mummy/pseuds/doc_mummy
Summary: the last 5000 people to survive are given the chance to do it all again, this time with 6months warning and five million dollars to prepare. What will rick do?
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes
Comments: 13
Kudos: 35





	1. Prolouge

Prologue  
When rick opened his eyes he expected to be in the cave in which he had gone to sleep last night, he didn’t expect to find himself in a brightly lit room with many other confused faces.   
It was an instant transportation. There in the cave one moment, the next in this large room.  
There was a man on a platform at the front of the room he spoke into a microphone,  
“Welcome survivors, you are the last 5000 living people on the planet that have survived since the beginning of the apocalypse. So congratulations on that. I am Cronus, God of Time and in particular time when viewed as a destructive, all-devouring force. I have seen and watched all of what you have been through over the last 15 years. I am going to give you all a new chance to prove that you are true survivors. I will be sending you all back in time to six months before the apocalypse with 5 million dollars and your memories. I will give you an hour to find your friends and allies and to plan” with that Cronus vanished in a puff of smoke.  
Rick looked around in deep shock; the mere thought of doing it all over again terrified him and yet at the same time gave him a sense of hope. Hope to save his family. The crowd thinned just enough to spot his lover and best friend Daryl along with his son Carl.  
“Daryl, Carl over here” he called out to them, seeing their faces light up seeing him.  
“Dad” Carl pulled rick into a big hug apologizing profusely “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry dad. I shouldn’t have left like that. You were right, she was just using me. I should have listened to you. I’m so sorry”  
“Hey Carl” rick kissed Carl’s head “I forgive you. I’m just glad that you lived” rick turned to Daryl and pulled the redneck into a feisty kiss, pulling him close as he devoured the man’s lips.  
“Wow” Carl exclaimed “When did this happen? There were bets going on at the prison and in Alexandria about when you two would finally get together. Damn”  
Rick broke off the kiss with a gasp of fresh air and smirked at his son “about six months after you left us, we thought we were dead and I finally decided that if I was going to die I would tell Daryl how I felt about him”  
“yeah, you daddy here, decided that the best way to show me how he loved me was to kiss me in the middle of a mall while we were trying to find new boots, surrounded by hundreds of Walkers”

FLASHBACK RICK’S POV

They had been walking as quietly as they could through an old mall somewhere in northern Texas. Moving as a team of two, with a goal of hopefully finding new boots to replace the broken and held together by the grace of the Gods broken boots they were currently wearing. They turned a corner towards the old food court (any chance to possibly find anything to eat was always taken) and found a herd of Walkers. Stopping abruptly they gulped in terror, there must have been hundreds of them. Backing up slowly and quietly only to bump into a fallen chair and scrapping it along the floor. They turned and ran towards the stairs leading to the street, only to be cut off and surrounded by Walkers. Back to back with Daryl shooting arrows and slicing Walkers with their weapons, Rick was certain they had finally met their ends. Ricks regrets were many, one of them was never telling Daryl how much he loved him. Rick turned to face Daryl and pulled the man close, smashing their lips together.

FLASHBACK DARYL’S POV

Feeling Ricks lip against his own was all he had dreamed of for the last few years, although, he probably wouldn’t have chosen to have their first kiss in the middle of a herd of Walkers. Pulling back Daryl shouted,  
“We talk when we get the fuck outta here” to rick and started to destroy even more Walkers. Together they managed to kill at least 50 of the Walkers and getting to the stairs that lead to the street. Climbing on their pushbikes (the only transport available after 15years of no new fuel) they peddled to their current residence, an old shipping container located in an old junk yard.  
FLASHBACKS END

Carl smiled at his dad and Daryl and asked  
“Well, what do you guys think of all this?”   
“If it’s real, then maybe we can do some good, save our family. Really live rather than just survive” Daryl replied “and we would get many years together” he said looking into Ricks eyes.  
“Yeah, with 5mil and 6months to plan, we should have all we need to save our family.” Rick replied.  
Cronus appeared in a puff of smoke and spoke to the survivors  
“Now what’s going to happen is this:  
1\. We will send each of you back to six months before the apocalypse with all of your memories.  
2\. We will ensure that you each have 5mil in your bank accounts (and for those of you who don’t have bank accounts we will ensure that you have your money in cash. (this applied to Daryl)  
3\. We are willing to let each of you pick 2 people who have died during the last 15years to also have their memories returned and will give them 5 million dollars each also.  
Now I will be calling up all of you and asking the souls of those you choose if they want this chance. If your chosen person says no, then you may choose someone else” Cronus pointed at a mean looking man and gestured for his to go up.  
Rick turned to Carl and Daryl and asked them who they should choose?  
“Merle and Curt” Daryl said immediately, he had always believed that his brother had some good in him and had regretted the way he had died. Curt had been one of his best friends when they lived in Alexandria, he was also a soldier and had training in weapons. He would be a major asset.   
“Steve and Luke” Carl answered, surprising rick and Daryl, they were two unknown males to them,  
“Steve and Luke Breton were with me when I found out that Misha was using me, they stopped me from committing suicide, I owe them, besides those two can make anything” rick pulled his son tightly into his arms and just held his hurting child, Daryl wrapped his own arms around his lover and he guessed his step-son. “And who do you choose dad? Carl asked,  
“Carol and Michonne” Rick replied “you realize that I can’t be with your mother don’t you carl?”  
“yeah I get it dad, besides, she was cheating on you with Shane for a year before the walkers started, I didn’t realize that until I had grown up a bit, that leaving me in the car to ‘visit’ that they were sleeping together, so yeah I understand dad. Besides it will be easier to let them go.” Carl didn’t exactly hate his mom but at the same time he wouldn’t cry either. His mother had hurt and used his dad too much during the first two years of the apocalypse for him to forgive her for.  
They came up with a plan to meet up at rick and Carl’s home in king county. Then their time was up. Cronus waved them forward,  
“Rick Grimes who do you choose?” Cronus asked  
“Carol Pelletier and Michonne Hawthorn” rick answered.   
“Unfortunately I cannot bring Carol back as she is also a survivor” Cronus replied and gestured carol forward. Rick, Carl and Daryl all converged on carol and hugged her tightly. “You must choose another”  
“then I choose Michonne and Morgan Jones” Michonne’s spirit was called up and told of the offer, she accepted and agreed that she would make her way to rick’s home in king’s county. Morgan also accepted the offer and promised to meet with rick in king’s county within a week, before vanishing in a puff of smoke. With that rick also disappeared in a puff of smoke.   
Next it was Carl’s turn. “And who do you chose Carl grimes?” Cronus asked,  
“I choose Steve and Luke Breton” Carl replied, the spirits of the twin boys were summoned and they also accepted the offer and said they would be making their way to king county as soon as they could. With that the three boys disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only Daryl and Carol.  
Carol went next and chose “Glen Rhee and Hershel Green” the spirits also said yes and that they would meet in king county within a week of their return.  
“Merle Dixon and Curt Roberts” was all that Daryl said. Merle was swearing up a storm when he was summoned but also agreed to come back. Curt refused; he didn’t want to remember the losses he suffered, so Daryl had to choose another, so he chose Maggie Green with that done Daryl also disappeared in a puff of smoke.


	2. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group returns.

THE RETURN  
Rick’s POV

Rick came to with a gasp in his bed, sitting up he cradled his head in his hands and let all the memories flood through his head. Hearing a beeping noise that he had forgotten about he found a text message informing him that a deposit of 10mil was now in his account. Rick was briefly confused when it occurred to him that his son Carl was now only 10 years old again.  
Hearing a sound coming from the hall way he was quick to grab his service pistol that he kept in his side table next to the bed and ran to his sons room, flinging open the door he swept the room before gathering his son into his arms.  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay now, daddy’s here” he held Carl close to his chest.  
Carl snuggled into his daddy’s arms and told his dad all about Steve and Luke. His true loves.  
“Well” rick replied “I can’t wait to meet them, let’s get something to eat” they walked down the stairs into the kitchen, “scrambled eggs on toast?” he asked his son getting an affirming grunt in reply. As rick was cooking they started to talk about their plans.  
“Well I recon we should buy a mountain or something and put large fences around it and then buy some animals and stuff dad, then we can like buy some of those prebuilt houses like the ones you see just off the highway?”  
“You might be onto something there carl. We’ll discuss it the others when they get here”

Daryl’s POV

Daryl woke with a gasp and a splitting head ache; he could hear Merle cussing up a storm and then the loud thud of boots across the cheap rotted wooden floor of the trailer they currently lived in, as Merle made his way to Daryl’s room.  
“Daryl” Merle boomed in delight “Come brother; tell old Merle everything that happened with the Governor and me”  
Daryl sighed “We found Michonne, she told us how you let her go and how you said that you were going to fix things” sigh “I found you, you had turned and I had no choice but to put you down” Daryl was sobbing, “we lived at the prison for almost a year and then the prison was attached by the governor, who we had believed was dead, we lost the prison and wandered for many more months” Daryl went to tell his broth everything he could remember about the 15years he had survived   
“Look Merle, I just going to say it, I’m gay and in love with Rick” Daryl was preparing himself either for Merle to blow his top or to attack him instead he got,  
“Yeah, I know” Daryl’s head snapped up in disbelief, “I saw it in the prison, didn’t want to believe it, but I did see it. I just want you to be happy baby bro, and if Officer Friendly does that for you, then so be it.”  
“We’ve got to go. Go find Rick and Carl and the others” Daryl started to run around the room gathering things and shoving them into a duffle bag.  
“Daryl! Calm down. Now we’ve got 10mil in cash between us, let’s just fuel up the bikes and head on over to Officer Friendly’s place yeah?” Merle suggested.  
They were out the door with two duffels filled with cash within 10mins. Never to return to the broken down crap shack behind them.

Luke and Steve’s POV

The twin boys woke with gasps in the shitty ratty group home where they shared a room with four other boys, who were currently sleeping, the twins were remembering everything that they had endured and just wanted to find their man again. The twins found two duffle bags at the end of their beds. One with 5mil each and another with clothes and documents and a letter from Cronus that said;  
Find your way to Rick Grimes in King County, Georgia and give him these documents, I have changed your Custody to him.  
Good luck and I wish you many years of happiness  
Cronus, God of Time  
“So what do we do now?” Luke asked Steve,  
“We find Carl and his dad and figure out where to go from there” the boys proceeded to grab their bags and climb out the window and down the spouting of the group home. Two Thirteen year old boys missing from a group home in New York City wouldn’t be noticed until nights out if even then.  
The boys made their way to grand central and booked a bus to King County, Georgia leaving that afternoon. The operator didn’t even bulk at their ages when the twins told them they were off to see their dad. 

Carol POV

Waking up next to her long dead husband was terrifying and body numbing, yet that didn’t stop Carol from getting up fast enough to run to Sophia’s room throwing open the door afraid that all she would find is an empty bed.  
Instead she found her 10 year old daughter just stirring, and kicking off her duvet.  
“Good morning mama” Sophia said as she saw her mama just standing there in the door way. Her mama beamed a huge smile, full of joy.  
“Hello sweetie, did you sleep well?” Carol couldn’t believe her baby was right there in front of her.  
“I did mama” Sophia replied, getting her daughter dressed and eating breakfast she started to plan.  
Ring the bank to find out her bank balance.  
Get rid of her husband  
Get to Rick in King County about 3 hours away by highway.   
A loud thumping came from the hallway as her husband made his way to the kitchen  
“Woman, my breakfast should be ready and piping hot if you can be lazing around doing nothing” he raised his hand intending on hitting carol, when suddenly there was a knife to his throat,  
“If I ever see you again, I will kill you” she whispered fury and disgust in every pore of her body. She was STRONG. She was no longer a weak little mouse, but a lion that had survived and thrived in the apocalypse for 15 years of hell. Her husband could no longer frighten her. Carol bundled Sophia up into the car and drove away from her own personal prison, she was finally free. She would never be made to be a prisoner again. Never.

Michonne’s POV

Michonne woke to snoring from the man behind her in her bed, her baby boy calling to her through the baby monitor,  
“Mama, mama” she could here Andre screeching, she got up and looked around, she was in the small apartment she shared with her boyfriend and her son Andre. Running to her baby’s room she scooped him up and held him close. She didn’t want to leave him ever again. Checking her account online while drinking a cup of coffee, the best tasting thing she had had in years, she found 5mil in her accounts. She decided to find Rick and go from there. She packed a bag for Andre and herself and wrote a letter to her boyfriend telling him she was going to visit her mother in California. Her mother had died three years earlier. She could never forgive her boyfriend for taking drugs and eating their son while she was out scavenging supplies for them. She would never see him again, and she was glad for it.

Morgan POV

Waking up next to jenny in their home in Macon, Georgia was bitter sweet, the memories swept over him as he pulled his wife close by, he came up with a plan to tell his wife the truth and make his way to ricks home in King County. But first he had to make sweet, sweet love to his beloved Jenny.

Hershel and Maggie Green POV

Waking up with a hash gasp Hershel was stunned to find himself back home on his farm, in bed with his lovely wife Annette. Getting up, Hershel hurried to his daughters rooms, throwing open their bedroom doors.  
“Daddy!” Beth squealed, holding a shirt to her front, “get out!” Hershel quickly slammed the door in mortification; meanwhile Maggie was awoken by Beth’s squeals and ran from her room to embrace her father.  
“Oh daddy, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t save you or Beth. And Glen died and then the baby, I made so many mistakes and I screwed up daddy” she cried  
“Tell me everything that happened after the Governor killed me” Hershel ordered his daughter. And so Maggie told her daddy about the cannibals and skin wearers and how they had lost Beth to the Saviors then sobbed out the tale of Negan and his crew, and how after she had lost Glen and the baby how she could do it anymore and how she had committed suicide.  
Hershel listened to his daughter tale of woe; he knew that with proper planning, they could ensure their future.  
The doorbell rang and the front door opened with Glen poking his head inside  
“Glen” Maggie shouted and grabbed at him with clawed hands intending to never let go of her husband.  
Hershel now knew one thing.  
It was time to find Rick. And start planning for the apocalypse. This time they would thrive and not merely survive.


	3. Planning

Chapter Two

Planning

Rick’s POV

It had been three days since they had returned; he had quit his job and divorced his wife, getting full custody of Carl. Amazing what can happen in a small county like King County. Especially when the town’s main judge is with you, about to have a cup of coffee at your home while talking about the possibility of buying an island or a large mountain and the intricacies that come with it, when you hear noises coming from the master bedroom. Pulling out your service weapon and sneaking up to the door and kicking it in to find Lori and your best friend rolling around in your marriage bed.

What happened after that happened so quickly that even Ricks head was still spinning. Carl’s testimony that Lori would leave him in the car while she ‘visited’ Shane at his apartment ensured that Carl was in his custody and that Lori and Shane would never be trusted or welcomed in King County ever again.  
Daryl and Merle had shown up not long after that with a huge long haul moving truck filled to the brim with hundreds of bullet casings and barrels of gun powder and a bullet maker. Apparently you can get anything if you pay enough for it. And that Merle was already showing his usefulness.  
Next to turn up were Carol and Sophia, then came Michonne and André, then came the Greens and Glen showing up later that day. The twins showed up the next day.  
Rick gathered everyone around his large outdoor BBQ table (the only one that would seat everyone) and started up the BBQ to cook while they started up the conversation to planning. They all agreed that the farm was not secure. No-one wanted a repeat of the massive herd that had wiped out the farm to happen again.  
Daryl wanted to ensure that there would be good hunting ground for wild game.  
Hershel wanted at least some land for grazing animals like cattle and pigs etc.  
Carol wanted a huge area for some glass houses to grow crops for eating.  
Maggie wanted individual houses (she could still remember the mortification when Daryl had teased her and Glen at the prison and how her father couldn’t look her or Glen in the eyes for weeks). Everyone chuckled at Maggie’s demands also remembering.  
Carl want a secure home, even here in king County, without the apocalypse he still felt exposed and unsafe in his own home with no fences.  
Carl’s twins also agreed that a secure and safe home was the most important thing they needed, growing up in Foster homes had led the twins to looking out for number one and taking safety however the found it.  
So rick had a suggestion,  
“How about we find a large mountain, We can set up cabins quite comfortably and not really have to worry about shelter and wild animals like bears” (that would eventually become a rarity to see or find thanks to the Walkers) “we can make it so that we all have some distance from each other but also so that our group are not too far each other. Some green houses on the sunnier sides for food and maybe a cave of two for food storage and preparation?”  
“It’s the end of the world, it’s not like we need too much, safety, warmth, food, water, clothing and each other. Everything else will take care of itself” Michonne added.  
“Okay let’s start looking” Rick handed out a couple of laptops he had purchased and handed them to Michonne and Carl while keeping one in front of himself with merle and Daryl watching over his shoulders. A few hours later Carl and his twins started to make a few noises and hemming and haring over their find.  
“What’s up boys?” Rick enquired after about 10mins of murmuring between themselves.  
“well dad, we found a mountain but it’s not quite what you wanted in that it’s not wild exactly” carl muttered, “but it’s an abandoned town, it’s got everything we’d need like homes and space for animals and greenhouses and it’s in the middle of a forest, so we’d just need to add some fences to it surround it. And it already has infrastructure. We could add some solar panels to it and make a real town dad”  
“Why was it abandoned?” merle asked “places like that are usually abandoned because of run off from mining has destroyed the waterways or because something is poisoning the residents”  
“It says here that after the mining town stopped finding huge concentrations of coal the big wigs just pulled out of the area, leaving the town of 22 homes and buildings including a doctor office, post office, school rooms and municipal buildings standing and still in perfectly fine condition. It was only abandoned about 4 and a half years ago, and the mining company wants to get rid of it because of the taxes they are still paying on the empty town.” Carl answered.  
The table was silent and thinking it all over, to find a town that would support everyone and provide the necessities for them all to live and thrive. And to be hidden from others.  
“Where is this town?” Rick asked  
“It’s in the middle of a national reserve, that’s why the mining company is having such a hard time getting rid of it, but if we buy it, it won’t take much to build a fence around the town and then another one further out to allow for grazing for the animals and there is a large plain nearby with multiple rivers and streams for water” carl replied, getting excited at the shear possibilities of this town.  
“Okay, well I’ll call the realtor and set up a meeting. In the meantime I have rented a large warehouse in the industrial sector for all our supplies to be delivered too. No sense in sending them to our final resting space and letting everyone know where our base is. Silence is golden in this case. We do not speak of our new base in the hearing of anyone not a part of our group, our family” rick said  
“Hey love, think your paranoia is kicking in a little early” Daryl teased and everyone started chuckling remembering the “Ricktatorship”   
“whatever, okay so let’s do this in order:

1 Carol: You are in charge of gathering everything a kitchen needs from dehydrators to canning jars to pots and pans etc. no limits up to 2mil, the more canning and dehydrating things you can get, the better.

2 Michonne: you are in charge of buying clothing for everyone and keeping it usable for us including shoes and all the thing we would need for making our own clothes later on down the track. So cloth and sewing machines. Half a mil for that. We can always use the skins from animals we harvest in the future. One hundred thousand.

3 Daryl and Merle: You two are in charge of buying the fencing and buying weapons and stuff for us, such as making sure we have loads of arrows so we won’t run out etc. your budget is 5mil.

4 Jenny: You were a teacher; you are in charge with making sure we have enough supplies for schooling the kids. So like books and blackboard chalk and stuff. One hundred thousand for that, make sure to stock up on stationary. We can raid a library after the world goes to hell.

5 Morgan: You were a doctor, I want you in charge of purchasing medical supplies and stuff that a fully outfitted mini hospital would need. Two mil for your budget.

6 Hershel and Maggie: You two will be in charge of making sure that we have everything needed for a home farm including a veterinary office and all the farming equipment needed. Including machinery for gardening. See if you can get them to run on solar. It’s better than worrying about running out of fuel. You have a 2mil.

7 Carl, Steve and Luke: You will be in charge of buying up sports equipment and toys for the apocalypse, might as well keep you all as entertained as possible. Take Dwain and Sofia with you. You can buy that stuff online at Amazon. Here’s the address of the warehouse. And my credit card number. Fifty thousand and not one cent over.

8 Glen: We need someone down at the warehouse to record and move the stuff we buy into an organized manner. That’s your job. There are already metal shelving there so it should be easy enough to organize it. We’re going to move all this stuff in an organized manner after we find out final spot. Stuff will be coming quickly as soon as this afternoon.

9 And Me: My job is to buy this town as soon as possible. And to make sure that it is safe.” Rick was exhausted, planning was difficult but at least the family we having a blast spending our money, Rick chucked to himself.


End file.
